diff --git a/.zshrc b/.zshrc
index 7efd561..8ad6ea6 100644
--- a/.zshrc
+++ b/.zshrc
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ if (( $+commands[kitty] )); then
     source <(kitty + complete setup zsh)
 fi
 
-if (( $+commands[direnv] )); then
-    eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"
-fi
+# if (( $+commands[direnv] )); then
+#     eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"
+# fi
 
 # run local machine-specific settings
 if [ -f "$HOME/.zlocalrc" ]; then
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 15c5755..edd7335 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,16 +9,6 @@ the authoritative storage of all of the preferences file on a given machine.
 The `install` script creates the necessary symlinks for these preference files
 to be seen by the appropriate applications.
 
-## sharing between WSL and Windows
-
-If you want to use this repo to manage the preferences file of both a WSL
-instance and its Windows host, clone this repo on WSL and then symlink the
-directory into the home directory of the Windows host like so:
-
-    C:\Users\Name>mklink /D .dotfiles \\wsl$\instance\home\name\.dotfiles
-
-You can then navigate into the Linux directory from Windows, either on the
-command line or in Explorer.exe. Using an administrator shell, run the install
-script from the Windows side. Windows requires admin privileges in order to
-make symbolic links, so you need an admin shell to register new links on
-Windows.
+The mapping of files in the repo to their location on the machine is given in
+`config.ini`, and its installed by a python program defined in `prefs`, which
+uses only stdlib Python
diff --git a/config.ini b/config.ini
index 0579fa3..ed44ac2 100644
--- a/config.ini
+++ b/config.ini
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ when: host.has('kitty') and host.is_linux
 files:
   desktop/kitty.desktop > .local/share/applications/kitty.desktop
 
+[link-files nix-config]
+when: host.has('nix')
+target_root: ~/.config
+files:
+  nix/nix.conf
+
 [link-files rofi]
 when: host.has('rofi')
 target_root: ~/.config
diff --git a/kitty/kitty.conf b/kitty/kitty.conf
index 9c67e3e..f04da1e 100644
--- a/kitty/kitty.conf
+++ b/kitty/kitty.conf
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@
 #:     italic_font      Operator Mono Book Italic
 #:     bold_italic_font Operator Mono Medium Italic
 
-# font_size 11.0
+# Menlo is the default, I'm not sure how to conditionally pick a font only if
+# it exists yet.
+font_family Menlo
+font_size 16.0
 
 #: Font size (in pts)
 
@@ -293,7 +296,7 @@
 
 #: Scrollback {{{
 
-# scrollback_lines 2000
+scrollback_lines 20000
 
 #: Number of lines of history to keep in memory for scrolling back.
 #: Memory is allocated on demand. Negative numbers are (effectively)
@@ -681,12 +684,12 @@
 
 #: Terminal bell {{{
 
-# enable_audio_bell yes
+enable_audio_bell no
 
 #: The audio bell. Useful to disable it in environments that require
 #: silence.
 
-# visual_bell_duration 0.0
+visual_bell_duration 0.1
 
 #: The visual bell duration (in seconds). Flash the screen when a bell
 #: occurs for the specified number of seconds. Set to zero to disable.
@@ -738,9 +741,9 @@
 
 #: Window layout {{{
 
-# remember_window_size  yes
-# initial_window_width  640
-# initial_window_height 400
+remember_window_size  yes
+initial_window_width  100c
+initial_window_height 50c
 
 #: If enabled, the OS Window size will be remembered so that new
 #: instances of kitty will have the same size as the previous
@@ -926,7 +929,7 @@
 #: The second number is the margin between the tab bar and the
 #: contents of the current tab.
 
-# tab_bar_style fade
+tab_bar_style fade
 
 #: The tab bar style, can be one of:
 
@@ -952,12 +955,12 @@
 #:     a mapping for the select_tab action which presents you with a list of
 #:     tabs and allows for easy switching to a tab.
 
-# tab_bar_align left
+tab_bar_align left
 
 #: The horizontal alignment of the tab bar, can be one of: left,
 #: center, right.
 
-# tab_bar_min_tabs 2
+tab_bar_min_tabs 2
 
 #: The minimum number of tabs that must exist before the tab bar is
 #: shown.
@@ -1590,8 +1593,7 @@
 #: this option is obsolete (although still supported). Consider using
 #: text_composition_strategy instead.
 
-# macos_traditional_fullscreen no
-
+macos_traditional_fullscreen yes
 #: Use the macOS traditional full-screen transition, that is faster,
 #: but less pretty.
 
diff --git a/nix/nix.conf b/nix/nix.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7df9335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/nix.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# add the nix command so that we can use nix profiles
+extra-experimental-features = nix-command